Hawaiian health organizations get $100,000 grant from OHA

Papa Ola Lokahi and other Hawaiian health organizations have received a $100,000 grant from the Office of Hawaiian Affairs to develop plans to improve the health of Native Hawaiians.

Participating in the project with Papa Ola Lokahi will be the five Native Hawaiian Health Care systems and the Native Hawaiian Health Scholarship Program.

They will spend the next year gathering data, planning and developing resources and conducting professional training and development.

Partnerships will be developed with other organizations and community health centers that serve Native Hawaiian health needs, Papa Ola Lokahi said in a news release.

The one-year planning process will provide the foundation for OHA to commit annual resources to support activities to improve the health of native Hawaiians, it said.

UH vice chancellor takes Las Vegas post

Neal Smastresk, University of Hawaii vice chancellor for academic affairs, has accepted a job as the University of Nevada Las Vegas' executive vice president and provost.

Smastresk is expected to begin his new job by June 1, according to a news release from UNLV.

During Smastresk's time at UH, the university entered the ranks of the top 25 federally funded institutions, gained three National Academy of Science members and received recognition from the Chinese Ministry of Education as a Confucius Institute, an honor shared by 11 U.S. schools.

Smastresk has a doctorate in zoology from the University of Texas at Austin and worked 22 years at that school Arlington, including positions as biology chairman and dean of science.

Grocer raises record amount for Foodbank

Safeway Stores will present a check for $107,475 to the Hawaii Foodbank on Tuesday at the supermarket's Pali branch, the first time one retailer has donated more than $100,000.

According to a Safeway announcement, the amount is the highest ever awarded in the 14 years the foodbank's "Check Out Hunger" program has existed.

The money will benefit more than 130,000 residents in Hawaii who receive the food provided by Hawaii Foodbank member agencies.

For 10 weeks Safeway supermarkets placed donation coupons at each of its checkstands to help raise funds and awareness to prevent hunger. Customers had a choice of donating $2.81 to feed a child breakfast for a week; $12.43 to feed a senior lunch for a month; or $16.84 to feed a family dinner for a week.

Expert discusses hepatitis and Asians

Dr. Chia Wang, medical co-director of the Hepatitis and Liver Clinic at Harborview Medical Center, Seattle, will discuss "Hepatitis B, Impact on Asians and Asian-Americans," at a dinner at 7 p.m. Feb. 27 at Roy's Restaurant.

Wang is a specialist in hepatitis and HIV. She is attending physician at the Madison/HIV clinic at Harborview Medical Center. She also volunteers at a medical clinic in Seattle's international district where she sees many new immigrants from Asia with hepatitis B.

The dinner is sponsored by the Hepatitis Prevention, Education, Treatment and Support Network of Hawaii and Roche Laboratories, Inc. It is limited to the first 40 registrations. Call M.R. Joyner, 395-4612 or e-mail mrjoy@hawaii.rr.com.

Scholarships offered for trip to Vietnam

Applications for the Pacific and Asian Affairs Council's Summer Study Tour to Vietnam this June are being accepted until Friday.

Twenty high school students from grades 9 through 12 will be awarded full scholarships, funded by the Freeman Foundation.